Saturday, 4 May 2013

Will they approve? Going to panel

I’m sorry I haven’t posted for such a long time, the main
reason for this has been me being unwell – something that was a little bit
scary, very frustrating and knocked me for six.
On the bright side we have also now been approved by panel to be foster
carers hoorah, hoorah! The panel was a little bit scary but you’ll be glad to
know it was neither frustrating nor did it knock me for six.

So panel: what was it
like and how did it go, I hear you all ask!! Well, it was nerve wracking – but
then isn’t every interview you go for where you REALLY want the job? Unlike
other job interviews though, the panel had read pretty much my whole life story
and knew more about me (on paper) than any employer I’ve ever had. I suppose
that did increase the intensity of the situation.

The panel was made up of a group of people who all have
something to do with children in care. There were two social workers, a nurse,
a mental health nurse, a foster carer, an agency representative and an independent
chairperson. Our social worker sat next to us and in a way was being
interviewed too. When we had caught up with her earlier in the day she had
tried to calm our nerves by suggesting that no one would ever take prospective
foster carers to panel unless they thought the candidates were ready and that
panel would approve them. That was
reassuring, but wasn’t a guarantee, so the butterflies continued to establish
residence in my tummy until after the panel interview!

On the way to our interview I had been trying to second
guess the questions the panel would ask us. To be honest I think I was harder on
myself than they were! We were asked 3 main questions:

Why now?

What do you think our children will make of it all? and

What sort of support
network do you have?

All three were reasonably straightforward and were things we
had discussed with our social worker before.
‘Why now?’ could be reflected back with
‘Why not?’ though our Social worker also helped answer this question and
explained my wish to not go ‘back’ to work but become a ‘professional parent’ –
a great expression which I intend to use again!

As for what the children think, well they have been at the
heart of every part of this process. We see fostering as something that will
benefit not only any child placed with us, but all the family. The children
will grow up understanding there are other children who don’t have a loving
home of their own and that it is a good thing to let them share ours. Panel
agreed that during the matching process we should ensure that any children
placed with us should ‘fit in’ with our children. Of course this creates a huge
dilemma as it means that we would have to turn down children if they were not
suitable. But in the long run it is better to have the right children placed with
us from the start, so that the chance of the placement breaking down is reduced.
A placement breakdown being far more heart breaking for the child (and for us)
than having their referral rejected. I just have to hope and pray a great home
is waiting for them somewhere else.

So the last question of the interview – our support network.
We don’t have family living nearby and we haven’t lived here long so it is
quite feasible that we could, as a foster family, become quite isolated. The
panel needed to know what would we do in an emergency, who could help us at the
drop of a hat? We are so incredibly fortunate where we are. Yes, we have only
lived here a short time but no, we are certainly not isolated. For a start we
have incredibly active and sociable children so from the beginning we have been
making friends through groups and clubs they attend. We have also found a great
church to be part of and have thus gained a ready-made community right there.
But even so, both these factors don’t guarantee you meeting proper decent
lifelong friends, like we have. So, yep, we have definitely landed on our feet
(as my Granny says!)

The panel seemed happy with our answers and were really
friendly. They appeared to want to hear the best from us and the questions
reflected that. However, we were given one tricky ‘off piste’ question about dealing with
difficult situations. My clever husband quickly said, while I ummed and ahhhed,
that he would, in this kind of
situation, seek advice from our supervising social worker! A fantastic answer, which had them all nodding
with approval and agreement. Once all the questions had been answered we were
sent out the room so that they could decide our fate. It wasn’t long before we
were brought back in to be told that they had unanimously agreed to recommend
approval. Hallelujah!

So, that other thing I mentioned at the start, my bout of
illness. Well it happened shortly after we were approved and took us all by
surprise. Without going into too much detail I wasn’t well enough to look after
my own children, let alone any foster children, for a few weeks. During this
time friends and family visited, looked after the kids, cooked meals, took me
to appointments and rallied around to help us out. Having people willing, and
happy, to help made it so much easier to recover properly. I was blown away by
their generosity and it showed me just how fabulous they all are! The wonderful
support network we described at panel showed they were just that.

So now we are approved (and I am better) – when will we
become actual foster carers? I’ll keep you posted!

4 comments:

I have just had the opportunity to read your blogs - and it was like reading our experience when we were approved Jan'12.I gave a talk about it to a local group of mums and could almost have used your words!The best is yet to come - fostering is my 'dream' job, I LOVE LOVE LOVE it, and feel so privileged that our family can invest in the lives of children who have come from brokenness and trauma.We have still to face the prospect of them moving on - our next hurdle, one which I dread yet have an excitement about as they can move on from a positive place now, a different world to where they were a year or so ago.So, all the best - enjoy the ups and the downs and the mountain of people you have to meet and work alongside. You will be great!

Thank you so much Chrissied for your kind and encouraging words. It's really good to hear you're still loving it a year on and I can't imagine the mixed emotions involved for all of you when facing the issue of 'moving on.' All the best to you and your family. D

Hi John, I'm afraid I cannot email you directly but I can respond to questions posted on the blog. If that doesn't help you and you have further enquiries regarding fostering or the process of becoming a foster carer that you would like discussed in a less public forum please contact the fostering network, their website is www.fostering.net or they have a general eqnquiries phone no which is 020 7620 6400 I hope that helps. D

Huh?

I am 'mum' of a reasonably young family and recently we started the journey of becoming a foster family. This blog is to share the ups, downs, facts and emotions of it all. Hopefully this blog will inform or inspire you and maybe if you've been thinking of fostering yourself will give you insight into how it all goes.